


Grounds of Love

by Magical_Awesome_Kid



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Lance (Voltron) is a Good Friend, M/M, Post Season 7, Sad Shiro (Voltron), Season 7 Spoilers, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 05:56:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15657120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magical_Awesome_Kid/pseuds/Magical_Awesome_Kid
Summary: Even then, Shiro still felt like there was a gaping hole in his heart.He was looking at the name plate again.Commander Pilot Adam Winston.





	Grounds of Love

**Author's Note:**

> I watched season 7.
> 
> Shiro didn't deserve that you mofos. He deserves LOVE! He deserves FAM! HE DESERVES TO RECOVER!!!
> 
> Enjoy me dealing with my emotions via fan fiction!

            It had been some time after the defeat of the Glara that Shiro felt like his life was settling down for the first time in what felt like an eternity. Of course, with all the time dilations and jumps around the universe, it could have very well been an eternity. As it was, though, the Earth was momentarily saved and slowly cleaning up. A lot of alien resistant fighters had heard news of the return of Voltron, and they were flocking to the Paladin’s home world for protection, to offer reinforcement, and to help them rebuild. Matt had just returned, bringing many Blades with, including Krolia. Even with the Altean colony still missing, they were recovering as a whole.

            Even then, Shiro still felt like there was a gaping hole in his heart.

            He was looking at the name plate again.

            _Commander Pilot Adam Winston._

Those words, to be seared into the wall of honor, burned Shiro so much.

            He’d curse out the Admiral if she were here, her actions having directly doomed Adam and his squadron against Sam’s knowledge of the enemy, but, at the same time, he couldn’t. She’d paid for her crimes with her life, and it was her that had bought the team enough time to escape. Still, there were nights he sat awake, wondering if he could have done more, acted swifter, done _better_ to save them all, especially Adam.

            Shiro would be the first to say that they both fucked up. They both fucked up majorly before Kerberos. Shiro was sick, yes, and he needed the mission for himself, but he ended up ignoring Adam’s feelings completely. Adam wasn’t right, either, in that he didn’t give Shiro enough recognition for his needs. It was a fucked up fight that had landed them basically breaking up before the rocket took off, but, even then, Shiro took the time to realize all of this on the way to Kerberos, and he’d intended to come back and make amends. Love was stronger, after all, and he really, truly, cared for the other man. This would be his last long range mission. Small flights? Yes, because space called to him, but no more than that. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with Adam, and that meant making concessions sometimes.

            Then the Glara, the enslavement, the experimentation and torture. The crash and loss of memories, being back on Earth for a moment before it was all snatched away because the universe needed him more.

            Adam had fallen away from his mind in that time. What Haggar had done to him had messed him up, but, with time, he remembered his boyfriend. He remembered how Adam took his coffee – the strongest stuff he could get because he was an addict, the hypocrite. He remembered how they met – flight training and a stupid dare that landed them both in a heap of trouble. He remembered Matt teasing him unendingly when he’d come in, flopped onto the dorm floor, and had his little gay breakdown because he realized how pretty Adam was and how he loved his laugh but what if he didn’t like him back? What if he didn’t even like BOYS?

            He remembered their first kiss, shy and silly because they had nearly passed out doing homework together, high on lack of sleep and caffeine, and it wasn’t remotely romantic but it was their first.

            There was a lot of firsts that Shiro would no longer get to have with the man he loved.

            Shiro heard steps coming down the hall, a familiar gait that he’d gotten to know over these years. He stood up from the plate, turning with a tired smile on his face. “Lance, what's up?”

            Lance was there in what was definitely not his standard Garrison uniform or even his given hospital pajamas. It seemed that the base had held onto his personal items after all, and they’d miraculously survived the onslaught early on. He wore dark navy sweats with an oversized Panic! At the Disco t-shirt that was heavily beaten and probably a hand-me-down. His favorite blue lion slippers had been one of the few things that he’d brought with him from the Castle of Lions, and he now plodded these halls in them as he did with the castle in space.

            He was also using a crutch to walk, generally favoring his right side. He had two broken ribs, a fractured femur, and internal contusions from the battle, yet here he was, as always, trying to put up a front.

            Shiro wondered how he could ever miss this mature side of Lance before.

            The young man smiled, his eyes far older then they should be, but the message was still there. “Veronica is helping out with some of the resistant fighters in the area collecting here to help rebuild, and my family, well, they wanted to be helpful. Without everyone watching, I’d figured I’d go for a walk and stretch my legs.”

            “You should be resting.” Shiro admonished.

            “So should you.” Lance threw back. “You fought Sendak head on, you were on that crashed cruiser, and, hello, the whole Atlas thing, not to mention that you only got your conscious and body thing figured out a couple phoebs ago.” Lance threw back with a look. Shiro had learned that it was a look that Lance had honed from taking care of his niece and nephew.

            The older man blushed slightly. “Yes, well, I’m older here.”

            Lance shook his head and sighed, but his eyes drifted to the wall. “You want to talk about it?”

            Shiro blinked, his robotic arm faltering in the air as his human hand trembled. “What?”

            “You’re heartbroken, and, as the king of romance, I have some experience with it.” Lance shuffled over to a wall and slid down, setting his injured leg flat and his crutch down. “I got a bit of the story from, well, everyone, and it seemed to be that it was pretty serious.”

            The man wanted to ignore the pain, push it to the side. They had a war to fight, the Galra –

            No, there was a breathe now. Reinforcements were coming and recovery was here and now.

            Maybe he deserved a break, too.

            The whitette walked the few feet before he fell beside the younger, his face fallen into his hands as his knees rose to meet his arms. “I just…” He breathed. “I left things on a terrible foot. I had thought to myself that time away would do us good, and I spent most of the down time to Kerberos thinking ‘when I get back, I’m going to fix this with Adam.’ But then…”

            Shiro paused, his breathe hitching, and a hand fell on his shoulder. Soothing circles wove into his skin. “I know, big guy.”

            His shoulders shook and fell before, too his hands gave way to reveal tear tracks. “Coming back to Earth wasn’t ideal. I was a mess, my brain scrambled, and then we were in space, the war, my… my death.” He shivered. He’d died after all, making him a liar. He said he’d always come back to Adam, and then he wasn’t. He was always going to watch over Keith, and then he didn’t. If it wasn’t for Black, there’d be nothing left of him. “And then everything with Black… it was only after Allura did her Quintessence thing that I was able to finally recover everything, and it just… hit me. Hit me like a blade to the heart.

            “Even as we made our way back to Earth, I worried about Adam in between worrying about us, Voltron, and the universe in general. I hoped that he hadn’t hurt in the news, I hoped that Sam told him what I wanted him to. I remember, as Kuron, that I couldn’t say anything to the camera, so I wrote him a letter. It wasn’t much, but I wanted to tell him I was sorry for everything, and I’d apologize to his face when I got back. I swore I would come back every time.” Shiro let out a wet laugh that was a sob. “And then that idiot was a hero and died before I could apologize, and there’s nothing any of us can do to fix it.”

            Lance pulled Shiro over, and the larger man hugged the smaller, his form shaking as he gripped the earth fabric for dear life, taking care not to damage Lance’s ribs any more then they were already injured. “I’m sorry, Shiro.” Lance muttered as he comforted his idol, his once-leader and always friend. “I’m so sorry. You don’t deserve this, and neither did Adam.”

            They stayed like that for a little while until Shiro felt exhausted. It was the first time in a long while that he’d just let it all out, that he’d finally shared the burden a little bit, and Lance was there, once again, to help. He really was deserving of the title as the right hand of Voltron, the right leg. He started as the support, and now he’d grown to not only support those near to him but offer a hand to anyone who was down.

            All of them had grown, grown into their roles as Paladins, and Shiro was both proud and sad to see it. He was proud because they had become such heroes that the galaxy deserved, the defenders of the peace that were needed, but he was also sad. They’d never truly signed up for this, forever thrust into rolls through a series of events like none other. Shiro had chosen his mission, he knew the consequences, and he always thought he’d beat them. They never had the mission stats, the target, they’d only found themselves as civilians and cadets one day, defenders of the universe in the next.

            By the time they broke, another set of footsteps came down the hall. These, too, shared a familiar gait, and soon a large body of orange and yellow came into view, now with bandages across his head. Hunk’s headband had found its way around his wrist while his concussion healed, but the man was not deterred, and he bore his own gifts.

            “Glad you got the message, big guy.” Lance grinned as Hunk returned the smile.

            “Well, with an emergency like this, I was sure to get in on it. Thankfully, even with our limited supplies here, I was still able to scrounge up enough to make a batch of peanut butter cookies.” Hunk grinned as he sat down across from them in the hall. Looking to Shiro, Hunk added, “Lance told me you were down here and doing rough. Just so you know, we’re all here if you need us. I mean, you were always there for us, and it’s only right that we return the favor, right? I mean what’re friends for?”

            There was a flash, and soon enough a snoot came to nose into Shiro’s head. The large space hound whined as he licked away tears and tried to nose into Shiro’s lap. “Better let him do it.” Keith’s voice echoed as he entered. “Cosmo does what he does.” The man grinned. He was wearing the basic Garrison lounge wear, but he replaced the shirt with a plain black t-shirt. His hair was also pulled back into a low ponytail.

            “Sounds familiar.” Lance teased as the wolf made to cuddle across both Shiro and Lance. “And, hey, you finally started calling him Cosmo.”

            “I still think it’s stupid.” Keith threw with a roll of his eyes. “But now that we’re on Earth, I can’t just call him wolf.”

            Above them, a vent shook. The four looked up to see the panel give way and nearly crash into Keith before Lance, suddenly with his bayard in hand, shot it back. “Whoops. My bad.” Pidge threw as she looked down.

            “You are so lucky I carry this everywhere.” Lance threw as he waved his weapon, which quickly returned to its deactivated state. It slid under his shirt to clip to his belt, completely out of sight under the mass of fabric.

            Pidge rolled her eyes as she slid out. The ceiling was ten feet up, but she had a rope that dropped down next to Keith, which she used to slide down. A second body joined her, it being Princess Allura. Both were in the typical garrison pajamas, though Pidge’s shirt was replaced with one that Shiro swears was probably Matt’s at one point. Allura was a tad smaller at first, similar to Pidge, but her size soon readjusted to her normal form. “Sorry, but Coran was guarding my room to ensure that I rested, but I wanted to come as soon as I heard.”

            “The mice ratted you out, and then they got me.” Pidge smirked before her nose twitched. “Oh my quiznack, is that peanut butter?” Her eyes were like dinner plates as they zoned in on the cookies.

            “Hey, hey, those are Shiro’s get well cookies.” Hunk warned as he tried to swat the gremlin away.

            Shiro snorted and laughed a little. “You can have one, Pidge.”

            “No, rules are you gotta eat one first.” Hunk waved his finger at Shiro. “Rules are rules.”

            “The rules are sacred.” Lance nodded firmly.

            “I have never heard of these rules.” Allura questioned as she looked between Lance and Hunk.

            “It’s one of my mom’s rules. If you make food for someone, that someone goes first.” Hunk explained.

            “I think it was mostly because we’d always try to sneak off with treats fresh from the oven.” Lance threw with a smirk. “My mama adopted it when she heard it.”

            Shiro did end up eating a cookie, and they ended up lining up in that end of the hallway using a holo display to watch an Earth movie. No one came down that way, and Shiro had a feeling that they’d done something to close the hall off from intruders, but he appreciated it so much. For a moment, even as the memorial sat behind them, Shiro allowed himself to feel ok again. Keith was leaned on his left shoulder, yawning as the movie played, with Lance leaning on him. Allura was curled into Lance’s side, muttering questions that Lance tried to explain as they went. Even though it was a children’s animated movie, some earth concepts were still so foreign to her. Hunk was a comfy weight to the right, a rock, as he held the cookies where Pidge and Shiro could get them. Pidge was lain out, messing with one of the phones and an intergalactic communication relay, and Cosmo used his power of large fluffiness to keep all their legs warm. The mice even joined them after finding a bag of snacks, which they shared with Cosmo as a sort of peace offering.

            Every time Shiro allowed himself to rest, though, his eyes fell to the monument not too far down, and his heart ached for the missing part of his life.

            He missed Adam so much, and, even with his friends here, he still felt cheated.

            When the movie finally ended, though, Pidge’s phone lit up. She accepted the call, Sam displaying on the screen. “Katie? Where are you? Where are the other paladins? Are you alright?”

            “Yeah, dad, we’re all here with Shiro.” She smiled as she turned the camera to show off them all. “Sorry, had an impromptu teamwork session.”

            Sam took it in before shaking his head. “You should all stay in bed, but I am glad you are together and with Shiro.”

            “What’s going on, Commander?” Shiro questioned.

            “We managed to haul in a few more resistance fighters from northern bases, and you have to see this. Meet me at bay 2A.” Sam gave a hard look to the others. “And then all of you are back to the med bay. Even you should be resting, Shiro.”

            They made their way to the bay at that point. It was a large hanger underground for land vehicles that had survived the attack and had been converted into an intake area for victims of the Glara attack. Parts of the back areas were cleared for immediate med bay and first aid, in case they came in with major injuries, but otherwise it was a host of desk areas and Garrison agents helping incoming families find loved ones. Communication was still coming back online, but Garrison satellites and the fighter jets helped to already reconnect most major cities around the world.

            Of the six to enter, only Shiro was in his uniform, but they were quickly spotted by a few surrounding stragglers. Mutterings, pointing, and awe was abound as they realized that the defenders of the universe were there. Most here had been privy to the attacks, having seen the lions take on the Galra with their own eyes. All had also seen the videos, and they knew of their faces.

            It was a little unnerving to see so many of their own people watching, but the Paladins were also so used to being on display for the coalition. Allura was unfazed by their glances, a princess through and through. Cosmo and the mice glared down anyone who got too close for comfort. The Paladins did slow, though, as a few younger and amazed came forth, and, while Keith and Pidge weren’t the best with kids, the others took to comforting them and shaking a few hands. It was the best for the people, for morale, and Shiro smiled and continued forward, knowing they’d catch up.

            Shiro made his way through the crowd as he spotted Sam in the middle of a rather large group coming in. It appeared to be maybe a hundred people, all resistance humans who had survived. Sam most likely needed help with all of them.

            “Takashi?”

            Shiro froze.

            His mind raced, trying to find a hint of fallacy, of fakery, but the voice repeated.

            “Takashi!”

            Shiro turned as another figure tried to push through the crowd. He was coming from the med bay, multiple Garrison medics trying to get him to sit and rest, but he persisted in trying to stand, to fight. Shiro felt his feet shuffle, then walk, then run.

            He stopped just feet from the other as the man stood, using an IV stand to help him. His lower left leg was gone, replaced by a crude prosthetic that gathered with the fabric just below his knee, and he had two large scars, one at his temple and another at his neck that was dangerously close to his trachea. His glasses were gone, which explained why he was squinting. He was farsighted, after all. His hair had grown out and been cut raggedly, but he was still there.

            “A-Adam?”

            “Shit.” The man swore before he suddenly jerked. His body crashed into Shiro’s, and the man staggered before returning the embrace. “You fucking moron. ‘It’s just a mission, Adam, I’ll be back before you know it, Adam.’”

            “Adam, how- how are you…”

            “I wasn’t the best for nothing.” He joked, but his voice was thick with emotions. “After Alex went down, I knew there was no chance. I saw the incoming and managed to eject, but… it was a bad landing. I was miles from the Garrison, and, well, not exactly in one piece.”

            “Some resistance found me, and a doctor saved my ass. I used what I could, helped them go underground, but when the skies cleared and news came down…” His hands gripped the back of Shiro’s uniform tighter. “Well, had to get home to the bf.”

            Shiro choked out a laugh. “You were always late. You were the absolute worst with time.”

            Adam leaned back, smiling and laughing. “Yeah? Well you were a year late. And dead. Talk about tardy.”

            “In my defense, I was kind of kidnapped.” Shiro cupped Adam’s face, just staring at it. He had changed, they both had, but it was also like they’d never parted. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry about everything.”

            “I’m sorry, too.” Adam took a deep breathe as he cupped his hands over Shiro’s. His skin was so starkly different from the metal of Shiro’s prosthetic, but the touch was gentle and, somehow (probably magic), he could feel the smoothing of fingers over the back of his palm. “You wanted to go, it was your life, and I shouldn’t stand in it.”

            “You’re part of my life, if you’ll have me back in yours.” Shiro whispered, pleading, so full of emotion.

            “Yeah.” The darker man smiled, a tear down his face. “I’d love that.”

            “Sir, we need to have a medic look at your amputation immediately.” One of the people in a Garrison uniform reported, though they looked uncomfortable and thoroughly annoyed to have to break up the reunion. They had a job to do, though, and that was making sure everyone was alright. “Captain, we really need to get this man looked at.”

            “Captain? When did that happen?” The brunette laughed before running a hand through Shiro’s hair. “And I gotta say that the white suits you. Really brungs out the old man vibe.”

            “Oh har har.” The other replied before waving over a medical tech who had a wheel chair waiting. “We can catch up after you get your leg looked at. I know a couple someone’s with fantastic prosthetic skills, and we can see if there’s any of that really dark roast around here.”

            “Coffee, fast way to a man’s heart.” Adam replied before Shiro eased him into the chair. “That’s a date, Shirogane, and you better not be late.” He waved his finger, and it was like they were playful cadets again.

            “Or what? Chase me down? I can outfly you any day.”

            “Those are fighting words!”

            As Adam was rolled off finally, he turned to see five (well, ten if you counted the animals) sets of eyes on him. “Holy shit, it’s Keith and Lance all over again.” Pidge swore as said paladins swerved on her.

            “What are you talking about?” “Shut your quiznack!” Said Black and Red paladins threw.

            “I think they’re adorable together.” Allura cooed as the mice leaned in, swooning. “While I’m not crazy on the ears, he’s quite a catch, Shiro.”

            “If you need help on the coffee date thing, I have a great recipe for vanilla cake if you guys like sweets.” Hunk noted. “Also, we should discuss leg replacements when we get some MRI data. It’d also be great if we could get more crystals before then.”

            “Yes, I should speak to the Olkari when they get here on a teleduv system.” The princess noted as her mice chattered.

            “I think Matt said that he was bringing in more refugees, and some were from the Balmera. They’ll most likely have more crystals for us to work with.” Keith nodded.

            “Hey, if the balmera is living, think it could just, like, move closer to Earth? That would make it a whole ton easier to watch over it.”

            “Lance, that’s insane. I mean, the effects on the earth’s gravitational pull would be massive.”

            “Pidge is right, Lance. I mean, unless we created a propulsion field outside of the terminal radius…”

            “Hunk, are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”

            “It’s crazy, Pidge, but it might work!”

            “I’m fairly certain it’s possible, actually.” Allura thought for a moment. “Moving smaller planetoids can be tricky, but we used to be able to do something similar on Altea.”

            Shiro was soon escorting five Paladins back to the medical recovery wing, with Pidge and Hunk planning out some crazy math with Allura on a holo screen while Lance and Keith were bickering, Lance having been appalled by Keith’s lack of pop culture and demanding that Keith, Cosmo, and himself all binge some cartoon right this moment, but only if Cosmo promised not to eat Kaltenecker. Keith wanted to get back to work, but, when Krolia caught up with them, she helped wrangle Keith into a recovery room.

            When all the Paladins were settled, Shiro turned and walked to the kitchens.

            He had coffee to make.

**Author's Note:**

> Am I bitterTM about Adam's story arc in Voltron? Hell yes. Shiro didn't deserve that sh*t. 
> 
> Am I dealing with it through fan fiction? Hell yes.
> 
> But, listen, it was still a great season. 9/10 recommend. They gave us Hunk's arc, they gave us Lance's family and the reunion of the Holts. The show runners did a lot of great things, but my heart still cries for what could have been. If the higher ups would have allowed the envelope to be pushed a little further, made that leap to full-on embrace a cannon gay relationship with a main character where everyone lives happily within the arc, I think it would have made such a greater, positive impact on us as an audience.
> 
> Sure, they wanted to show us the cost of war, but the death of Adam seemed pointless in the grand scheme of things. The Admiral's actions seemed, honestly, quite stupid and plainly uninformed when Sam, who is their intelligence and has already saved the base because of his actions, is dismissed. They didn't gain anything from his end other then that they were stupid to send the fighters in. Even Iverson, who we ALL hated back in season 1, and James, who we hated for a hot sec, were redeemed and became nobel if not amazing characters.
> 
> Yes, we most likely overhyped Adam. We knew nothing about him other then that he was Shiro's SO, and that's on us for hoping. To Voltron, though, please reconsider some choices in the future. If this event has shown us anything, it's that when you keep kicking characters when they're down, when you keep kicking Shiro, the disabled gay vet with PTSD, you look out at us with disabilities and dealing with homophobia and just... shrug.
> 
> Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk see you in season 8!


End file.
